VIDEO: Alex Trebek's Message To Fans

Alex Trebek, the popular host of the syndicated quiz show Jeopardy!, has announced he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

In a video message to fans of the show posted on Youtube, the 78-year old said he was diagnosed with the disease earlier this week. He acknowledged that the prognosis for this cancer is not very encouraging, saying: "but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working. And with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease."

On beating the disease, he added jokingly: "truth told, I have to! Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years." In October of 2018 he signed a new contract to host the long-running show through 2022.

The Sudbury, Ontario native has hosted over 7,000 episodes of the show since he became host in 1984 and has won five Daytime Emmy awards for "Outstanding Game Show Host". Trebek has also hosted dozens of other game shows, including Classic Concentration and High Rollers.

View the entire video message here:

On Twitter, the game show community is sending their best wishes to Alex Trebek: